Joseph Mallord William Turner painted Dido Building Carthage as an oil on canvas. The painting is one of Turner’s most notable works.

《狄多建设迦太基》是约瑟夫·马洛德·威廉·透纳创作的一幅布面油画。这幅画是透纳最著名的作品之一。

The painting is based on the English seventeenth-century author and poet John Dryden’s translation of the Aeneid， the monumental Latin poem written by the Roman poet Virgil. Regarded as the founding epic of Ancient Rome， the poem tells the story of the Trojan prince Aeneas. Following the defeat of Troy by the Greeks， Aeneas spends years wandering with his followers before finally settling in Italy. Believing it to be his destiny to found a city， he becomes the ancestor of the Romans. During his travels， Aeneas is shipwrecked at the North African city of Carthage， whose queen， Dido， falls in love with him. After he departs for Italy without her， she kills herself in despair. Eight of Turner’s 11 pictures about Aeneas relate to his association with Dido.

此画是根据17世纪英国作家、诗人约翰·德莱登翻译的拉丁文诗歌《埃涅阿斯纪》创作的，该诗是罗马诗人维吉尔的不朽之作。这首诗被认为是古罗马的立国史诗，讲述了特洛伊王子埃涅阿斯的故事。特洛伊被希腊人攻陷后，埃涅阿斯和他的追随者流浪多年，最终定居意大利。他相信自己肩负建立城邦的使命，后来成为了罗马人的祖先。流浪途中，埃涅阿斯在北非城邦迦太基遭遇海难，迦太基女王狄多爱上了他。埃涅阿斯决然离开去意大利后，她绝望殉情。透纳画过11幅有关埃涅阿斯的画，其中8幅描绘了他与狄多的交往情境。

Aeneas’ story， with its themes of exile， destiny and the founding of a new civilisation through the creation of Rome， clearly appealed to Turner. The rise and fall of empires such as Rome and， in this instance， Carthage， was also a theme that preoccupied him for nearly forty years. He painted 10 major paintings on the history of Carthage. Although not a series， these pictures are meditations on history， and the emergence and collapse of grand human ambitions. These grand narratives frequently concern a historical figure whose fate is subject to forces beyond their control. For Turner， the story of Carthage was also the tragic story of Dido and Aeneas.

埃涅阿斯故事的主题有流放、有命运，还有通过创建罗马建立新文明——透纳显然被这故事吸引住了。